Chris is right, sounds like you are having issues with wet feet as we call them.
If you plant in a container and watered once a week, were you able to stick your finger into the soil up to your 2nd knuckle a feel dry soil?

You say "The soil always appear to be moist, so I didn't water them much." Your soil should never appear moist unless you just water them, especially if they are in a pot. I don't know if cali is in its rainy season but here in Florida we are. If I notice my potted plants outside are moist, I bring them in under the covered patio and leave them there for a few weeks. BUT, I do use cactus soil with perlite so this tends to not happen at all unless we have hurricane weather. Your best bet right now may be to uproot this plant and let it dry out a bit. Look at its roots and if the roots are actually wet, place them in a dry place OR repot in dry soil, do not water in, just leave it be.

Thanks so much for the responses. You both are right, I'm not using cacturs mix + perlite. Just some brand name potting soil in a huge container, there is a drainage hole at the bottom, but I guess the soil is retaining water too much. I didn't have to stick my finger in the soil at all to see that it's moist, only move aside some of the wood chips, and feel the moist soil. I do have some cedar wood chips on top of the soil, foolishly, to preserve the moisture, since it's pretty hot and dry here in the summer. I will now, tomorrow, remove all the wood chips, get a new plant, and the right soil. Feels good to find out the cause of my trouble.

Thanks again,

If you had a very fast well draining soil to put your plumies in, it should be able to rain whenever it wants and still your soil will not stay wet. We had one of the rainiest summer on record, it rained almost everyday in July and August, and still I got no rot. The more perlite, or any other amendment added to soil is always best. If was to liken plumeria to another plant species, I would say you should treat them as cactus. Cactus HATE wet feet. In fact, plumies store water in their trunks to get them through the dry periods in hot south climates.
Treat them as cactus, let dry out completely between waterings, and you will not get root rot.
The members on your thread here are very helpful. They know their plumies well.
Mike

I agree with everyone about too much moisture. Besides not having a well enough draining potting mix you might need more drainage holes in the container. A single center hole in a large pot is probably not sufficient. Perlite and especially pumice are great additives to promote drainage. Unfortunately pumice isn't always easy to find. I recently got a bag of porous clay pebbles specifically made for hydroponic systems and had extras so I added them to the soil of plants that need a well draining medium. They seem to be working very well and might be easier to find then pumice.

I again agree with Karyn. Having one hole not a good thing. I had pots with only one hole and drilled several more holes into the edges of the pot.

Chris (Flutter)

I have a stone cutter, and I grind slits into my clay pots about 1-2 inches up from the bottom. The pots actually look pretty cool when I am done with them. It would be nice if they sold them this way.:-)

Hi Newgen,

Id agree with the others that your plant was too wet, from the sounds of it. I'd try using a smaller pot with more than 1 drainage hole, lighten your mix up with perlite, pumice or pebbles as Karyn suggested. Summer's winding down now, I doubt we see anything above 80-85ºso you need to cut way back on the watering.

Chris in Florida, in my part of California, we've been in drought conditions it seems for years now. No "rainy" season for us !! We had some rain (not sure it was measureable)a month ago, and our last rain before that was in Feb !! My plumeria LOVED the rain we did get.

Newgen, I'm in central Calif too... just north of Bakersfield, where are you located ?

Cali

My husband was sent to Maui for work. I was able to go for about 10 days. When he was still there he sent me a baby pink plumeria stick. When I got it and took it out it had one leaf, that same day the leaf dried up so I cut it off. I have it in the same pot and keep moving it around my house to let it get as much sun as it can for the 8 hrs. I'v only watered it one time. I'v had the plant for 2 and a half weeks now, and about 4 days ago the green tip is turning brown/black and the trunk is soft. Is there something I can do to save it? Or have I lost it?

Does it already have roots?
What kind of soil is it in?
Is it just a cutting that needs to be rooted? Once we Know, we can help. :-0)
Get back to me asap!!!

One more thing. If you talking about putting this stick into soil and then you waterd it, that once could be its death sentence. Take it it of the soil immediately and check for rot. It there is rot. Cut it out up to where the stick is firm. Dip it in bleach water, about 1/4 teaspoon for quart. Let it harden or callous off again. Then I will tell you how to make it work for you. It has to callous or harden off for at least a week. Please do this ASAP. So check out the bottom of your stick now!

I don't know if it has roots or not. I haven't taken it out of the pot it came in. As for the soil, its like little rocks. I don't think there is soil. This is my frist plumeria and I don't even know what the roots should look like. It has three leafs on the top that are trying to come out, but there are some spots that are tuning brown and black.

ok so I took it out of the rocks there is like 5 roots. The plant is about 12' long. Only about three' at the top is not soft. At the roots it looks like white mold.

My god!! If you only have a bout 3 inches at the top not soft, I am afraid that is to little to cut and to try to root. Man. I wish you had caught it earlier.
So you are saying the whole thing but only 3 inches is soft to almost mushy? If that is the case, it is too late to save. I would not even water it. The last resort you have is to take it out of that soil, sink it in bleach water like I said and let it dry off completely. Then see if it is still mooshy. If so just toss it. They say you should have at least a 6-8 inch cutting to be able to develope roots. I don't know about only three inches of a healthy cutting. I never heard of rooting a cutting that small. maybe someone here has and will let you know if it is possible.
I hope it works out for you!!

One more thing...Were the roots white or were they black or dark brown?
I will tell you if it is dead just by this....
Mike

One more thing...man my mind is slow today!!lol
Just because you have a little growth up top doesn't mean the whole stick is healthy. Those leaves are just living off what ever fluids there are in the last 3 inches of the only good part of your cutting. Sort of like cactus do. You can rot a cactus and yet towards the very to, it will still grow living off the healthy tissue of the plant until the rot has reached it final destination...THE TOP
Mike

Thank you so much for trying to help me. The roots were tan. It was really mushy. I am really sad that it's not going to make it. When I was a kid my dad was in the navy and we lived in Hawaii for three years. I would claimb up a plumeria tree and just hang out there, pick the flowers and make leis. When I went to Maui that was one of the first things I smelled when I landed. The plumeria. I wanted to bring that home with me. To Utah, lol! Thanks again.

Newgen,
Im wondering how youre doing with your new plumeria ?? And as I said Im also in central Calif ... where abouts are you ??

Cali

It is possible to root a 3" cutting. I believe it depends on the variety. I have a tray full of short cuttings rooting in the greenhouse.

Kasie

That one, I have no idea.. I never tried it nor do I know anyone that has. I wonder myself?

I have a stick thats really skinny with green leaves that I was given and was told to stick in the ground. There were no roots. The leaves are drooping. Do I need to put it in water to grow roots first? I don don’t know if it is going to survive